Cyberbullying is often framed as “just online drama,” but the data refuses that comfort. In January 2025, there were 5.04 billion social media users worldwide, while YouTube reported that 97% of spam, harmful content, and policy violating posts were identified by automated systems in 2023, suggesting the scale of harmful behavior is too big for manual reporting alone. From threats faced by U.S. adults to the mental health toll reported in peer reviewed research, these statistics connect platform mechanics to real impacts on people.
Key Takeaways
- 14% of U.S. adults reported that they have been threatened online in the past year, per Pew Research Center (2024)
- In the U.K., 15% of children reported that they had received unwanted sexual messages online, per Ofcom (2023) report
- U.S. teen social media users: 95% of teens say they use social media, per Pew Research Center (2022)
- The global social media user base reached 5.04 billion in January 2025, per DataReportal (2025)
- WHO estimates there are 1.2 billion adolescents globally (10–19 years), per WHO (2021)
- The global market for social media management software was estimated at $6.2 billion in 2024, per MarketsandMarkets (2024)
- The social media analytics market size was estimated at $4.5 billion in 2023, per Fortune Business Insights (2024 publication)
- The global social media monitoring market size was valued at $1.56 billion in 2023, per IMARC Group (2024)
- YouTube reported 97% of spam, harmful content, and policy-violating content was identified by automated systems in 2023, per YouTube transparency reporting
- Instagram reported that 95% of accounts removed for policy violations were identified by its systems (not user reports) in Q4 2023, per Meta transparency
- 12 U.S. states explicitly define cyberbullying in state anti-bullying laws, per STOP Bullying guidance (updated 2024)
- The DSA requires very large online platforms to mitigate systemic risks, including risks related to online harms, with annual assessments
- The U.K. Ofcom Online Safety Act enforcement regime includes a requirement for companies to assess and mitigate risks including bullying and harassment for children
- In a study of 152 U.S. adolescents, 35% reported cyberbullying victimization in the past year, per peer-reviewed study (2021)
- A meta-analysis reported that cyberbullying is associated with increased odds of depression (OR=1.59), per peer-reviewed study (2017)
Cyberbullying is widespread online and linked to worse mental health, including depression and suicidal thoughts.
Related reading
01 · Category
Industry Trends2 stats
01
14% of U.S. adults reported that they have been threatened online in the past year, per Pew Research Center (2024)
02
In the U.K., 15% of children reported that they had received unwanted sexual messages online, per Ofcom (2023) report
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
As Industry Trends show, cyberbullying risks remain a clear mainstream issue with 14% of U.S. adults reporting threats online in the past year and 15% of U.K. children receiving unwanted sexual messages.
02 · Category
User Adoption3 stats
01
U.S. teen social media users: 95% of teens say they use social media, per Pew Research Center (2022)
02
The global social media user base reached 5.04 billion in January 2025, per DataReportal (2025)
03
WHO estimates there are 1.2 billion adolescents globally (10–19 years), per WHO (2021)
Interpretation
User Adoption Interpretation
With 95% of U.S. teens using social media and the global user base hitting 5.04 billion by January 2025, the adoption of platforms is clearly broad enough to place cyberbullying within reach of the 1.2 billion adolescents worldwide.
03 · Category
Market Size10 stats
01
The global market for social media management software was estimated at $6.2 billion in 2024, per MarketsandMarkets (2024)
02
The social media analytics market size was estimated at $4.5 billion in 2023, per Fortune Business Insights (2024 publication)
03
The global social media monitoring market size was valued at $1.56 billion in 2023, per IMARC Group (2024)
04
The global content moderation market was valued at $3.4 billion in 2024, per Allied Market Research (2024)
05
The global AI in content moderation market was estimated at $2.5 billion in 2023, per Fortune Business Insights (2024)
06
The global cyberbullying prevention software market was estimated at $312 million in 2023, per IMARC Group (2024)
07
The U.S. school cybersecurity services market was valued at $2.3 billion in 2024, per IDC (2024)
08
The global digital safety market was estimated at $19.7 billion in 2024, per MarketsandMarkets (2024)
09
The global safety compliance software market was valued at $10.8 billion in 2023, per Fortune Business Insights (2024)
10
The global trust and safety software market was valued at $5.9 billion in 2023, per MarketsandMarkets (2024)
Interpretation
Market Size Interpretation
From a market size perspective, the cybersecurity and moderation ecosystem for social media and digital safety is sizeable and expanding, with the global social media management software market at $6.2 billion in 2024 and content moderation reaching $3.4 billion in 2024, even though dedicated cyberbullying prevention software remains comparatively small at $312 million in 2023.
04 · Category
Performance Metrics2 stats
01
YouTube reported 97% of spam, harmful content, and policy-violating content was identified by automated systems in 2023, per YouTube transparency reporting
02
Instagram reported that 95% of accounts removed for policy violations were identified by its systems (not user reports) in Q4 2023, per Meta transparency
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Under the Performance Metrics angle, platforms are increasingly catching harmful cyberbullying-related content early through automation, with YouTube identifying 97% of spam and policy-violating material in 2023 and Instagram crediting its systems for removing 95% of policy-violating accounts in Q4 2023.
05 · Category
Compliance & Policy4 stats
01
12 U.S. states explicitly define cyberbullying in state anti-bullying laws, per STOP Bullying guidance (updated 2024)
02
The DSA requires very large online platforms to mitigate systemic risks, including risks related to online harms, with annual assessments
03
The U.K. Ofcom Online Safety Act enforcement regime includes a requirement for companies to assess and mitigate risks including bullying and harassment for children
04
In the U.S., 3.7% of students reported that they were cyberbullied, per NCVS microdata analysis summary (2019)
Interpretation
Compliance & Policy Interpretation
From the Compliance and Policy angle, it is clear that governments are tightening expectations for online safety by backing it with measurable duties, such as the U.K. requiring risk assessments and mitigation for bullying and harassment of children and the DSA pushing annual systemic risk evaluations, alongside U.S. policy groundwork like 12 states defining cyberbullying in anti-bullying laws and data showing 3.7% of students reported being cyberbullied in 2019.
More related reading
06 · Category
Cost Analysis8 stats
01
In a study of 152 U.S. adolescents, 35% reported cyberbullying victimization in the past year, per peer-reviewed study (2021)
02
A meta-analysis reported that cyberbullying is associated with increased odds of depression (OR=1.59), per peer-reviewed study (2017)
03
A meta-analysis found cyberbullying victims have significantly higher risk of suicidal ideation (pooled OR=1.62), per peer-reviewed study (2020)
04
A peer-reviewed study found cybervictimization was associated with lower academic performance (Hedges' g = -0.24), per study (2019)
05
The World Health Organization reports that global suicide rates were 9.0 per 100,000 (2019), highlighting the mental health burden linked to bullying harms
06
In a peer-reviewed longitudinal study, cyberbullying involvement predicted increased psychosomatic complaints with an effect size of β=0.16 (standardized), per study (2018)
07
A peer-reviewed study reported that cyberbullying victimization increased odds of anxiety symptoms (OR=1.47), per study (2021)
08
A peer-reviewed study found cyberbullying is associated with increased risk of stress (Cohen's d = 0.38), per study (2018)
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
With 35% of U.S. adolescents reporting cyberbullying victimization and meta-analyses showing higher mental health costs such as depression odds of 1.59 and suicidal ideation odds of 1.62, the data indicate that the burden of cyberbullying creates measurable downstream health and academic impacts that translate into real cost pressures under cost analysis.
07 · Category
Prevalence2 stats
01
24% of U.S. teens reported bullying/harassment through electronic messages in the past year, per the 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS).
02
26% of adolescents aged 12–17 worldwide reported being the victim of online harassment at least once in the past year, from the 2021 UNICEF “Child Online Safety: Global Study”.
Interpretation
Prevalence Interpretation
Under the prevalence category, cyberbullying is widespread with 24% of U.S. teens reporting electronic bullying or harassment in the past year and 26% of 12 to 17 year olds worldwide reporting online harassment at least once in the same period.
08 · Category
Risk & Impact4 stats
01
A meta-analysis (2017) found cyberbullying is associated with higher odds of depression (OR=1.59).
02
Cyberbullying victimization was associated with increased risk of anxiety symptoms (OR=1.47) in a peer-reviewed study published in 2021.
03
Cyberbullying is associated with increased risk of stress (Cohen’s d=0.38) in a peer-reviewed study (2018).
04
Cyberbullying victimization increased the odds of suicidal ideation (pooled OR=1.62) in a peer-reviewed meta-analysis (2020).
Interpretation
Risk & Impact Interpretation
Across the Risk and Impact evidence, cyberbullying shows consistent mental health harm with pooled and study estimates ranging from 1.47 times higher odds of anxiety symptoms to 1.62 times higher odds of suicidal ideation and elevated depression odds at 1.59, alongside increased stress (Cohen’s d=0.38).
09 · Category
Reporting Behavior2 stats
01
In a 2019 UK survey, 24% of children reported having been bullied online at least once, as reported by the UK’s Anti-Bullying Alliance in its 2019 research summary.
02
In the 2022 U.K. Ofcom Children’s Media Literacy research, 33% of children said they would tell someone if they experienced online bullying or harassment.
Interpretation
Reporting Behavior Interpretation
For reporting behavior, while only 24% of UK children in 2019 said they had been bullied online at least once, by 2022 33% said they would tell someone, suggesting willingness to report online bullying and harassment is higher than the share who have experienced it.
10 · Category
Platform Moderation3 stats
01
Meta reported that in Q2 2024 it removed 73.5 million pieces of content for violating Community Standards (Facebook and Instagram combined), as stated in its quarterly Community Standards Enforcement reports.
02
Google’s 2023 SafeSearch/Child Safety enforcement: 99% of child sexual abuse imagery for removal requests were detected using automated means (Google transparency and enforcement summary for 2023).
03
In 2023, Discord stated it took action on 1.8 million accounts for harassment-related policy violations, per Discord’s Trust & Safety enforcement statistics in its 2023 transparency update.
Interpretation
Platform Moderation Interpretation
Platform moderation is increasingly relying on scale and automation as shown by Meta removing 73.5 million violating posts in just Q2 2024, Google detecting 99% of child sexual abuse imagery requests automatically in 2023, and Discord taking action on 1.8 million accounts for harassment that same year.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Henrik Dahl. (2026, February 13). Cyberbullying Social Media Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/cyberbullying-social-media-statistics
MLA
Henrik Dahl. "Cyberbullying Social Media Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/cyberbullying-social-media-statistics.
Chicago
Henrik Dahl. 2026. "Cyberbullying Social Media Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/cyberbullying-social-media-statistics.
Sources & references
40 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+18 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)